Wargaming.net dismiss eSports porn sponsorship: World of Tanks is "a family product"

December 4, 2014, 7:14 am

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This weekend sees YouPorn’s Dota 2 team take part in its first tournament. It’s the first time a porn site has sponsored an eSports team. I recently spoke with Wargaming’s head of eSports in Europe, Nicolas Passemard, about the effect YouPorn’s sponsorship could have on eSports’ audience.

“When we see the audience coming to our events, a father with his son I find this personally really satisfying,” Passemard said. “I’m proud of it and I’d like it to stay like that. [... But] If we start adding YouPorn or whatever company which is very adult oriented then I expect the parents to be responsible enough not to bring their children.”

ESports have seen an explosion in popularity in recent years and, with that popularity, the audience has grown in some unexpected directions. When I went to the World of Tanks Grand Finals back in April there were a lot of children in the audience, taken for a day out with their parents.

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World of Tanks rolls out Personal Missions with exclusive new rewards

January 19, 2015, 1:40 am

≫ Next: The rise and rise of Wargaming: Part 1: Prelude to War

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The world's favourite simulator of angry metal boxes has just launched its latest feature. World of Tanks now hosts Personal Missions, campaign-spanning sets of extra-challenging missions and operations that will ultimately shower you with unique new tanks as special rewards.

Also, female tank drivers!

Complete enough missions in a set and you'll hear a knock on your virtual tank garage's door as a fresh-faced tank woman shows up holding her job application. Pile a tank high with women and you'll even get a reward for driving a tank with an all-woman crew: the Sisterhood of Steel perk works similarly to the all-boy Brothers in Arms perk.

The rise and rise of Wargaming: Part 1: Prelude to War

January 28, 2015, 7:00 am

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Victor Kislyi has a secret qualification, one entirely befitting the CEO who orchestrated the rise and rise of World of Tanks. 

“I think I’m a second lieutenant of the Belarus reserve army. I’m particular adept with rockets. I can shoot multiple rockets at a time with my training." As a native of Belarus, he’s been through compulsory military service. And yet, despite knowing the strict realities of army life, World of Tanks is essentially a game of tin soldiers. It’s a game Victor has built, in some form of other, since the early 90s.

“Like millions of boys my age, I got hooked on computer games. We played them all - Civilization, Doom II, SimCity. I was studying physics at University when I realised that my passion belonged to games,” recalled Kislyi. An exchange visit to the US set him the course to starting his own company. “I know it’s a cliched phrase, but this American dream was in my head. To become a video game company, we needed to make a game. So me and a couple of friends started.”

World of Tanks Grand Finals 2015 announced; expect lots of hot tank on tank action

January 28, 2015, 11:52 am

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A horde of tanks are preparing to descend on Expo XII in Warsaw, Poland. But there’s nothing to worry about; it’s just World of Tanks’ Grand Finals 2015. After a year of 1,000 tournaments, the Wargaming.net League is hosting a 12-team final to see who will take home the golden tank. Okay, I don’t know if there’s a golden tank, but there should be. 

“The biggest WGL eSports event is about to start its engine,” said Mohamed Fadl, eSports Director of Europe and North America at Wargaming. “The recent revamp of tournament rules changed the surface of WGL eSports. Soon, we’ll see the best of the best meet in the final face-off in what’s set to be a breathtaking and action-packed Grand Finals.”

The rise and rise of Wargaming: Part 2: It all kicks off

January 29, 2015, 7:39 am

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Yesterday: part one of The rise and rise of Wargaming saw how Victor grew his company from dorm room experiment to eastern megaforce. Today: Wargaming goes global, builds reinforcements in the guises of Warplanes and Warships, and protects some 1940s relics. 

Victor Kislysi, CEO of Wargaming, had dominated Russia’s gaming scene in 2010. World of Tanks was massive, but it was just a rivet in comparison to the incredible machine it would become. Now was the time for Wargaming to take on the west; Europe and America were targets ripe for the taking. 

World of Tanks launched in Russia, but its audience was global from the first moment. Growth was explosive. And while it was easy enough to provide servers and slots for players, supporting them was harder. “The game happened to be good for middle-aged guys. No matter which nationality, tanks are tanks,” says Victor. 

World of Tanks 9.6 Patch brings slew of new changes and new French armor

February 23, 2015, 1:00 pm

≫ Next: Competition: We’ve two bundles of Fury goodies to give away to World of Tanks fans

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The latest World of Tanks patch brings big changes to the way crew qualifications work, making it less onerous to bring your ace crew members with you from vehicle to vehicle, as well as add some new premium armor, including the mighty French AMX CDC. And as always, there’s a ton of minor tweaks and fixes in this latest patch.

Fiddling with crew members has always been one of the fussier aspects of the “World of...” games so it’s nice to see that Wargaming are making it so that you can switch qualifications between crew members, so that you can take an experienced driver and put him in tank as an experienced gunner, for example. This aims to cut down on “wasted talent among the ranks in your Garage.”

Competition: We’ve two bundles of Fury goodies to give away to World of Tanks fans

March 20, 2015, 4:00 am

≫ Next: April Ghouls: Wargaming release World of Tanks Operation Undead

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The folks over at Wargaming are big fans of the film Fury. Not because it’s based around a lone M4 tank crew’s crusade against the Germans in World War 2 but they say it’s the best thing Shia LaBeouf’s done since Even Stevens.

Last year, to celebrate the film, Wargaming released an in-game version of the eponymous tank, the M4A3E8. They’ve given us two of the last virtual tanks in their stores to give away, along with a two copies of the film on Blu-ray, and two family tickets to visit the tank museum in Bovington where you can see the tank used in the movie.

All you need to do is answer one little question, the two best answers win prizes.

Bovington’s tank museum played a big part in the filming of Fury: they lent both their Tiger 131 and Sherman M4 tank to its production. The Tiger 131 is the last functioning of its kind in the world and the M4 was Fury itself.

After filming completed Wargaming and Bovington worked out a deal with Sony Pictures and Norman Productions to run an exhibit dedicated to Fury until the end of 2015. Wargaming’s given us two family tickets (two adults, two children) to the exhibit to give away to you, our readers.

April Ghouls: Wargaming release World of Tanks Operation Undead

March 31, 2015, 5:03 pm

≫ Next: How EL Gaming turned the World of Tanks grand finals into a knife fight

≪ Previous: Competition: We’ve two bundles of Fury goodies to give away to World of Tanks fans

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This is not a joke: Wargaming have just announced the launch of a new game called World of Tanks Operation Undead. It’s a tower defense game you play in your browser, as you array your defenses for a game of Tanks vs. Zombies.

Don’t be fooled by the name: Operation Undead is not a new mode for World of Tanks, but it’s own browser tower defense game using your favorite armored friends from World of Tanks.

The objective of the game is to protect your Stronghold from “waves of vicious enemies.”

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How EL Gaming turned the World of Tanks grand finals into a knife fight

May 6, 2015, 2:40 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks unleashes respawnable tanks in Domination event

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Lining the walls of the hall for this year’s World of Tanks grand finals were banners for all the teams taking part. In pride of place were the banners for Na’Vi, Hellraisers, Kazna Kru; Russian teams all of them. EL Gaming’s banner was hidden behind one of the big projection screens. 

No one expected much of the Chinese team. Not even Wargaming.

Yet, EL Gaming stormed through the championship, taking second place. They did it in a way that’s ensured no World of Tanks tournament will be played the same again.

For the past two years Wargaming’s been running a series of qualifying tournaments that culminate in a grand finals held in Warsaw. I went to last year’s finals and left unconvinced by World of Tanks as a sport: it had a major camping problem.

World of Tanks unleashes respawnable tanks in Domination event

June 2, 2015, 4:48 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks version 9.9 deploys new armaments to the battlefield

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When a shell makes a massive hole in the side of your tank in World of Tanks, it’s game over. Towed off to the scrap heap, it’s up to the other commanders on the battlefield to secure victory. Not this month though. June sees the Domination event take hold of World of Tanks, and in these bombastic 10 minute battles, respawn keeps every commander permanently in the game. 

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Domination games are based on victory points. Capture flags on the map to earn points, and earn more points that your rivals to win. To stay in the game you can use resupply points to reload your tank with ammunition and repair your hull. Should you run out of ammo at a crucial moment though, there’s only a short respawn timer between you and revenge. 

World of Tanks version 9.9 deploys new armaments to the battlefield

July 16, 2015, 3:48 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks update 9.10 adds Japanese heavies

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Wargaming have installed version 9.9 into the World of Tanks engine, and after some server downtime yesterday the new improvements are live and ready for you to experiment with. Chief among the improvements are two new events, new vehicles, and some changes to Clan Wars. 

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Version 9.9 brings two new modes to The Domination event: Steel Hunt and Supply Swarm. Both of these modes will have their own rules and objectives, and will be released over the next few months. 

World of Tanks update 9.10 adds Japanese heavies

September 2, 2015, 1:26 pm

≫ Next: World of Tanks is advertised a bit differently in Japan

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World of Tanks'latest patch has come out and is all about beasts from the east in the form of Japanese heavy tanks. Adding seven new vehicles to the game, the defining characteristic of the new tech line is slow, steady and overwhelmingly strong wins the race. They don't get anywhere quickly, but they do pack a mighty punch and have thick armour. One of them is even the largest tank in the entire game.

Along with these new angry houses comes a fresh game mode and various changes to how the early levels work. Here's a handy vid that takes you through the details:

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World of Tanks is advertised a bit differently in Japan

September 27, 2015, 5:51 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks 10.0 will make you rampage

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Why is everything better in Japan? The trains are nearly always on time, they have square watermelons, there are cafes filled with cats. KFC is considered a typical feast on Christmas Eve and sleeping at work is absolutely fine - it's viewed as a sign of exhaustion from too much work. 

This is without mentioning the adverts, which are always about a thousand times better than any I've ever seen in the UK. World of Tanks just started an advertising campaign in Japan and it's a bit, erm, well - just have a watch, yeah? 

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World of Tanks 10.0 will make you rampage

October 5, 2015, 9:26 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks players are needed to operate remote-controlled tanks, says Russia's weapons chief

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World of Tanks is gearing up for the leap into version 10.0 late this month, an update that’s set to introduce a new game mode, Rampage, which as the name suggests is probably going to be the source of some slightly more explosive, hyper-aggressive matches.

You’ll find a lot more tanks in our list of the 10 best World War 2 PC games.

What makes Rampage a bit different is that it chucks in respawns and repair spots, so feel free to fight with wild abandon. Best watch out for enemies using the new Artillery and Airstrike abilities, though. 

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World of Tanks players are needed to operate remote-controlled tanks, says Russia's weapons chief

October 13, 2015, 9:00 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks' four best e-sports teams to face off at WGL's Continental Rumble, October 17

≪ Previous: World of Tanks 10.0 will make you rampage

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A Russian defense firm recently revealed plans to manufacture an unmanned tank. Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin reacted to the news by saying that World of Tanks players would be more useful than tank operators in the wars of the future. Is this the real life?

In another case of war blending with videogames, Apache: Air Assault was recently mistaken for Russian air strikes by a news anchor.

“We need no tankers now, we need World of Tanks players,” Rogozin wrote on Twitter.

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World of Tanks' four best e-sports teams to face off at WGL's Continental Rumble, October 17

October 14, 2015, 3:12 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks giveaway! Existing players can win six days of Premium!

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This weekend's a biggie for World of Tanks players - the four best teams from EU and CIS territories will be going track-to-track in Poznan, Poland, at the Continental Rumble event. 

Like your games to go easy on the wallet? Check out our 101 best free PC games. 

Part of the Poznan Game Arena event taking place across the weekend, those teams will be scrapping for a share of the $100,000 prize pool. See the above pic for the tourny structure.

World of Tanks giveaway! Existing players can win six days of Premium!

November 18, 2015, 12:00 am

≫ Next: More World of Tanks goodness - we've got 5,000 T2 Light tanks + an extra garage slot for new players!

≪ Previous: World of Tanks' four best e-sports teams to face off at WGL's Continental Rumble, October 17

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World of Tanks commanders, we’ve got a special little something for you. We’ve got 5,000 keys to giveaway, which will grant the lucky winners six days of Premium time. Just get involved below.

Looking to get started? Try World of Tanks now. Or you could try World of Warships…

More World of Tanks goodness - we've got 5,000 T2 Light tanks + an extra garage slot for new players!

November 19, 2015, 1:18 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks makes heavy gun platforms festive with deals advent calendar

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The World of Tanks needs more tanks. It just isn't tank-y enough. That's why we're inviting new players to get involved with a special giveaway - we've got 5,000 codes up for grabs, each of which will grant the winner a T2 Light tank plus an extra slot in their garage when they sign up.

If you're already involved, come this way for your chance to win six days of Premium WoT access.

Looking to get started? Try World of Tanks now. Or you could try World of Warships…

Now's the perfect time to jump in, as the game has just received an update. The 9.12 version includes graphical improvements, a new map and additional mode, as well as a PvE tutorial - perfect for any newbies.

World of Tanks makes heavy gun platforms festive with deals advent calendar

December 1, 2015, 5:44 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks Blitz rolls mercilessly onto Windows 10 having amassed 35 million mobile downloads

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Fantasy MMOs have it easy: it’s simple to dress up major cities with a bit of snow, lights, and Christmas cheer during December. There’s nothing festive about tanks though, and Christmas during wartime is nothing short of depressing and horrendously cold. That’s not stopping World of Tanks getting into the spirit of the season though. They’ve got their own take on an advent calendar, offering players 24 days of deals.

Want to know how World of Tanks became so big? Read about the rise of Wargaming.

World of Tanks Blitz rolls mercilessly onto Windows 10 having amassed 35 million mobile downloads

December 2, 2015, 2:20 am

≫ Next: World of Tanks World Championships 2016 head to Warsaw in April for digi-tank season finals

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Wargaming's mobile WoT spinoff, World of Tanks Blitz, is headed to PC and there's nothing you can do about it. You're out of mines to knock out its tracks with. Your RPG has run dry. The water in your canteen tastes a bit fusty. All that's left to do is sit in your bunker with quiet dignity, pondering the 100,000 simultaneous players it garnered worldwide in iOS and Android, and wonder how effectively the touch screen interface has been translated to mouse and keyboard controls.

World of Tanks is one of our best free PC games, naturally. How many of the others have you tried?